Sleight of Hand
by greenkirell-UnderCollie
Summary: Regardless: without paying attention to the present situation; despite the prevailing circumstances. This is the unfolding story of my third Loveless OC Unit, Regardless. The main character of this is the Unit's Sacrifice, its Gisei. The boy, a true Japanese by blood and area but a little off the beaten path persona-wise, is Saito Kiyaji - an orphan at birth and tied by fate.


**_Chapter 1_**

_Adoption!_

The young male's ears had perked up at the word. He had resided in this god-forsaken orphanage ever since he could remember... He had learned to sit, crawl, walk and talk here... Without a mother to dote on him. Without a father to guide him. For as long as he could remember, he had walked the halls of this home, the Rainbow Mountain Orphanage. Tokyo's outer reaches.

He had been told his mother had left him here, unable to care for him. He had been told his mother had promised to come back - with a note to prove it, and the blanket of his arrival. What good that had been... The note was yellow and thin with five years of handling from the moment he'd turned four. Kiyaji distinctly remembered that day: again one of his roommates, his "brothers", his "sisters"had been adopted out - all but himself, and the home was empty on his fourth birthday. He had wailed to the headmistress there, terrified and alone in his room filled with empty beds. Filled with only the ghost of those whom found their homes. He'd taken the note greedily, the little grey blanket too, and had allowed himself to be comforted by the story.

The story. That's all it was to him now. They couldn't prove to him anymore that his mother had promised, had wanted him, when he was left here only days old. The note, the blanket, once symbols of hope, had turned to shackles...

His dusty black hair quivered against his small shoulders as he leaned against the office door, his grey eyes wide with excitement. Hope. Real hope. There were very few kids here this time of year - winter - having been taken up early fall and late summer to homes they'd been promised (LIKE HIM?!) or hoped for - places better than the home. Places better than his.

Yes, the nine-year-old was bitter. He had admitted that to himself quite a lot lately, especially after meeting this one kid.

They were inseperable as far as most knew... Best friends, twins of mayhem. When trouble bloomed - but never _real_ trouble - they always looked to Yoshida Akito and his newfound partner, the child who'd been there forever: Saito Kiyaji.

And Kiyaji had built himself a reputation, of course. One he prided in even as he heard the word 'adoption' uttered from his headmistress' lips. He wouldn't miss her... She had beaten him senseless for his first antics, screaming about other children playing foul with him. Crying and hissing when a child was adopted, and driving the adopting parents away with crude jokes and lies about the kid they hoped to adopt. Sometimes when asked to get things for the home, he'd shoplift, his fingers generally sticky as he passed by a piece of candy. Petty thievery - but he _hated_ when the others would take his own things...

He also had a more... peculiar... reputation. He was gay. Undeniably so, and he wasn't afraid to show it, reckless and always in the moment, even if he meant no harm, but simply wanted affections. He'd forget himelf, and often had.

It was a wonder the young Saito boy still had his ears. But he did. He'd never gone all the way. He'd never done anything to initiate the loss of his ears among the other boys. He'd kiss them. He'd cling to them and demand stroking - and eventually got it, on his terms. Stroking, in his sense, referred to touches to his sensitive ears, which he prided above all in, and snuggling, sometimes kisses placed away from the face... But not much more than that. He was needy, with good reason to be.

But if he came close to giving up his ears to anyone at all, it was with Yoshida Akito. The kid with dark, almost black eyes and forward-folded ears had come to the orphanage when they were both seven, and an immediate bond had formed with their similar looks and the young Yoshida boy's dejected manner after being left there. He had had a family. He had had a house. He had had it _all_. But what was first Kiyaji's jealous teasing turned into friendship and flirting. He honestly _really really liked_ Akito. He wanted Akito's attention more than food and a good home sometimes, and similar was turned his way. it was symbyotic and pleasant.

But not enough.

Saito Kiyaji would go running to the office's door to listen when the possibility of his own adoption was spiked. When there was only a few left... He would throw everything away for a new life. Even the friend he had made in Akito. But of course, he thought nothing of that way. He just did as he saw fit, but he had begun to grow more discreet in checking the pending adoption forms, sometimes going in the middle of the night, telling his 'pet' that he was going to the bathroom.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Alrighty, guys. Another introduction to my OC's... and for Loveless. Personal shiz goes down with this fandom, I swear... Mirthless and Lifeless are the most prominent and only submitted, but here is my third. Cannon characters obviously don't appear in this here first chapter, but they'll pop up soon, I promise. *shot***


End file.
